diff --git a/lib/commands/publish.js b/lib/commands/publish.js
index 1f26370e89a56..560dae1b6f0e4 100644
--- a/lib/commands/publish.js
+++ b/lib/commands/publish.js
@@ -102,19 +102,20 @@ class Publish extends BaseCommand {
       logTar(pkgContents, { unicode })
     }
 
+    const resolved = npa.resolve(manifest.name, manifest.version)
+    const registry = npmFetch.pickRegistry(resolved, opts)
+    const creds = this.npm.config.getCredentialsByURI(registry)
+    const outputRegistry = replaceInfo(registry)
+    if (!creds.token && !creds.username) {
+      throw Object.assign(
+        new Error(`This command requires you to be logged in to ${outputRegistry}`), {
+          code: 'ENEEDAUTH',
+        }
+      )
+    }
+    log.notice('', `Publishing to ${outputRegistry}${dryRun ? ' (dry-run)' : ''}`)
+
     if (!dryRun) {
-      const resolved = npa.resolve(manifest.name, manifest.version)
-      const registry = npmFetch.pickRegistry(resolved, opts)
-      const creds = this.npm.config.getCredentialsByURI(registry)
-      const outputRegistry = replaceInfo(registry)
-      if (!creds.token && !creds.username) {
-        throw Object.assign(
-          new Error(`This command requires you to be logged in to ${outputRegistry}`), {
-            code: 'ENEEDAUTH',
-          }
-        )
-      }
-      log.notice('', `Publishing to ${outputRegistry}`)
       await otplease(opts, opts => libpub(manifest, tarballData, opts))
     }